How to Successfully Raise a Black Male

 

By Donna M Owens

David Miller is a man on a mission. Simply put, he wants single mothers who are raising sons to know they're not alone.
So the former public school teacher - a co-founder of the youth-focused Urban Leadership Institute in Baltimore - has developed an ambitious national campaign called "Raising Him Alone." It's designed to help single mothers and their sons by providing a network of resources, advocacy and access to community-based services.
Since launching the initiative back in April, Miller has reached out to predominately African American audiences across the country, via workshops, seminars, online initiatives and more. Several celebrity moms have joined the crusade, including Dr. Mahalia Hines, a Chicago educator whose son is the rapper/actor, Common; and Sheron Smith, mother of entertainer, Mos Def.
"We have been to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other places, meeting both single mothers and grandmothers, because a lot of women are raising their grandchildren," said Miller, 41, a married father of three, with one son. "The experience has been fulfilling, but extremely alarming ... An inordinate number of women are raising boys alone. Their sons have no contact with their fathers, or the contact is sporadic or minimal at best."
According to Miller, the mothers he's met hail from a myriad social and economic backgrounds, and don't fit easy stereotypes. Some are have always been single, others are separated or divorced. A good many are educated, professional women, he notes, who have found themselves without the partners they believed would be around to co-parent their sons.
"Some of these sisters thought they would be married or with someone for the rest of their lives," he said. "Most never dreamed that they would be raising their children alone."
"Raising Him Alone" is funded by the Open Society Institute and its Campaign for Black Male Achievement. The organization has earmarked $12 million dollars over the next several years to address issues related to black boys and men.

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Anti-Gay Violence Rises in African-American Communities

By Kenyon Farrow

 

The recent shootings in a Tel-Aviv LGBT center that left 2 dead and 15 injured understandably shocked the world. Though incidents in the black community usually receive little or no attention, we have our own problems with homophobic violence here in the U.S.

On July 26th in New Orleans, a 21 year-old born with the name Eric Lee, who dressed in women's clothing and went by the name "Beyonce" was found dead of multiple stab wounds in his apartment. According to The Advocate.com, Lee had been arguing with the three young women who were later arrested and charged with his murder.

With the exception of the accused being women, this story is all too familiar. According to the most recent report for the Anti-Violence Project, while bias violence against LGBT people increased only 2% from 2007-2008, the number of murders jumped 28% over the same period and were at their highest level since 1999.

Of all reported bias violence, 20% were people of African descent. According to the Gay & Lesbian Straight Education Network report one-third of all African-American LGBT students surveyed experienced some form of physical violence in school due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, and were the among the least likely of all students of color to report incidents to parents or other school authorities.

Black LGBT children also learn at an early age that to be queer can be mean violence, even if you have a supportive family, which I was lucky to have. But a protective family may not help you in the outside world.

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